38
by Cyrelia J
Summary: When she was seven, Mariemaia held the world in the palm of her hand. Twelve years later- a gun. 5 Mariemaia sorta


Disclaimer: Don't own them, I'm broke, etc etc.

.38

By Cyrelia J

"It's lighter than I thought it would be," she commented as her thumb caressed the handle of the gun in her hand. To her left stood a middle aged man, hair parted to the side wearing an old Alliance uniform. He watched her examine the pistol in her grip with a keen eye.

"The cartridge is based off the old .38 super s. You get the power of a 9mm without the recoil or the weight. And this particular model," he gave a tap to the barrel "has less than 2 metal content. Completely undetectable." She smiled at that and reached up to absently brush a stray lock of red hair behind her ear. "About twenty five years ago some corporate spy stole the technical specs on the new compound that Glock was using in their firearms for the government. Guess it didn't sit well with some jokers that they sold out and only military pigs could get their hands on the shit. They made about half a million before our boys strung 'em up like Christmas hams."

She raised a cool eyebrow at this.

"Major Addams, I may only be a child in your eyes, but I assure you I know enough to know when I'm being fed a line to get more money out of me." She shifted the gun to her other hand. It definitely felt good in her grip. She smiled winningly, a little girl's expression which dared him to do anything but giver her a pat on the cheek and a lollipop. "You know I was going to be Queen of the world before Vice Foreign minister Peacecraft." He crossed his arms and looked away with a snort.

"Ms Barton if you think I'd go lower than eight hundred credits." Her expression shifted, eyes hard and calculating.

"Please, for a gun that's practically a relic you should expect half that and be happy." She wanted it badly. But she learned long ago the fastest way to victory was to give nothing away.

"Missy I'll pretend I'm not insulted..."

"Five hundred," She interjected firmly. Of course there was nothing stopping the man from simply reaching for her purse and taking whatever the hell he wanted- the driving factor behind her ultimate decision to purchase the weapon. Her right leg spasmed as it was wont to. The doctors assured her she had no chance in hell of the limb being functional; it was simply a matter of nerves. At the same time it usually didn't twitch unless something-

"Onna!"

"Fuck!" she swore under her breath and looked at the man. "Eight hundred you said?" Her hands were already quickly fishing the bills from her wallet. He smiled at her knowing he had her. He was tempted to drive up the price, but he could afford a little mercy for the girl in the wheelchair who almost had the world. She pushed the money into his hand with a fierce scowl and shoved the pistol behind her into the butt holster. "We've never met before," She hissed, wheeling away from the man in the alley who seemed to have slunk back into the shadows.

She emerged from the alley, outwardly collected, heart fluttering as she practically crashed into Chang Wufei sporting a somewhat disheveled tuxedo. It was no mean feat for someone with working legs to ditch the tenacious chinese preventer. In her case she had to rely on cunning, stealth, and a healthy dose of luck.

"Onna what have I told you about wandering off like a spoiled child, especially in a city of this nature!" He flapped an arm to the side as he indicated the somewhat dilapidated buildings of this particular sector of L3 x-18999 and she thought he rather resembled a penguin that had its feathers ruffled. Of course they weren't supposed to be staying there. They had a rather nice suit reserved, and double checked, uptown near the summit. Such a shame that somehow a person in charge of the reservations had switched the similarly named 'Parkway' with 'Park Way'. Such a shame indeed. She absently smoothed the long skirts of the gown she wore. The function wasn't set to start for another two hours but her body guard had always insisted on arriving early.

Mariemaia sighed as Wufei automatically got behind her chair and started pushing with his usual brusqueness towards the limo.

"This is the eleventh year I've had to attend this ridiculous charade Wufei! Do they really think the universe will stay at peace simply because I kiss Relena Peacecraft's royal pink behind in front of a few cameras?" He opened his mouth and she cut him off. "I don't want to hear about the 'justice' of it all. I don't see you up there bowing down so every one can cluck their tongues at what a bad boy you were."

"I've served my own penance for my mistakes," he said softly behind her. She blushed as he stopped in front of the limo door and walked around to open it. The young woman was about to swing herself onto the seat with her typical aplomb at one of her triumphs of independence when she remembered the butt holster. _I just about ruled the damn world, carried out a coup that would make the ancient roman senate weep at its beauty and I forgot this?! _She almost laughed it was so pathetically reflective of everything else that had ever gone wrong in her life.

She looked up at him defiantly all of a sudden and threw herself into the car. She hoisted herself over a few feet, buckling herself in, and simply waited, back straight, as he loaded her wheelchair into the trunk and took his customary seat next to her. As they drove off, she waited for the remonstration. Wufei simply raised an eyebrow at her as he fastened his seatbelt.

"Do you really think so little of my intelligence, Marie?" She blinked a few times at the familiar address. "I suppose," he continued, "that I might have figured it out when Heero Yuy reported to me strange emails that were being rerouted through the Preventer's secured network..." He was still talking but once the name 'Heero Yuy' had been mentioned she'd foregone paying attention in favor of cursing the name of the man who'd not only almost single handedly fucked up her intergalactic sovereignty, but seemed to turn up like a bad infection every time one of her little 'plans' went awry. She knew he was going to be at the function. He stuck to Queen fucking Relena's shoe like dog shit. And not even in the 'I'm banging her so I have to protect the goodies' sort of way, no in the 'I'm so fucking perfect I will guard this chick with no sexual interest in her because I'm probably a eunuch' kind of way.

She looked up abruptly and then realized that Wufei was regarding her with that disapproving silence of his before speaking again.

"I'm not a fool. Though I am disappointed that you found it necessary to visit some two bit thug in an alleyway instead of simply coming to me when you felt need for..." there was a distasteful look on his face, "extra security." She frowned. It really hadn't occurred to her that he might feel offended by her actions. She looked out the window, unable to meet his eyes.

"Milliardo Peacraft doesn't have a bodyguard. Dorothy Catalonia doesn't have a bodyguard. Who has a bodyguard? Relena Peaceraft, Quatre Winner, and me." Her fist clenched at her side and she hit the door's interior. "Why am I lumped with the weak?!" He looked at her thoughtfully and took a moment to close the silencing divider between the two of them and the driver. His voice, like countless other times when he was about to say something "profound", was soft and steady.

"Do you really think that you're weak?" She gave a derisive snort. Once she had dreams of piloting a mobile suit, of leading her troops into battle, of fighting for honor and dying for glory instead of sitting behind a desk like a delicate figurehead.

"At first I was weak because I was only a child. I was a puppet for the old man. I could live with that because I knew I'd grow older; I'd become stronger. But now?" She regarded her useless legs. "Now the chance to become a true warrior has been stolen from me as well!"

She pulled the gun out and pointed it at him. He didn't flinch.

"This is the greatest invention known to man Wufei! You know why?! Because this makes me as strong as you! This makes me able to kill men like you, men like Heero Yuy. This is the last salvation of the weak. The great equalizer," she finished softly. His eyes drift from the silver barrel to meet hers.

"Hiding behind a weapon does not make you strong."

"I could kill you right now couldn't I, my friend?" He shook his head in that way he had that made her feel as if she was seven years old again.

"Dekim Barton killed so many more than you could ever imagine with his finger on the proverbial 'trigger'. I never held a shred of respect for that man a day in my life." Wufei never referred to the man as her grandfather. He'd once told her it was because he would not disrespect her by acknowledging their relation. Her hands faltered on the weapon.

"And yet you served him readily enough," she shouted back, reaffirming her grip. He reached a hand up and calmly, steadily, pushed the barrel away from his face. She let him with a small sigh, lowering the weapon.

"And now, do you still serve me? A cripple?" She wasn't prepared for the hard slap across her face. She hoped he had some fanfuckingtastic wisdom of the ages to impart because those were the only conditions she deemed a blow that hard acceptable. She wanted to rub her smarting cheek, but not in front of him.

"I had defeated my wife Meiran numerous times in physical combat. I had believed myself strong and she weak because of this. It wasn't until she died defending our colony while my nose was buried in a book that I realized who the strong one was... what true strength was." He shook his head and reached forward to rub the sting from her face. She knew her eyes had to be wide. She didn't understand. When she'd grown older, she'd thrown herself at him countless times to test his resolve only to be met with dismissal. She thought he either had to be gay or neutered like Heero Yuy.

"I'm not a pacifist," she whispered to him. "And I hate being helpless." Her hand reached up and grasped his own.

"You are anything but helpless" he answered her seriously. "I would not guard you with my life if I believed that it was not worth protecting."

"But what if I want to be the one to protect you?" She looked away, somewhat embarrassed at the admission. "You're my one true friend, and my greatest ally." She picked up the weapon again regarding it. He seemed to be considering something as he watched her from his angular, unreadable eyes. She knew that once upon a time such a declaration would have made him stiffen, as if she were calling his competence, his honor into question. Chang Wufei had matured a lot in the last ten years.

"Then," he looked at the weapon and back at her again, "Allow me to teach you the proper way to use it." She smiled at him. He always understood. "But still," he cautioned, "consider my words carefully, and remember that a weapon is only to be an instrument of justice... not revenge nor a tool to inflict your will upon others." She took in what he said as she replaced it in the holster behind her. He did not do her the indignity of insisting he hold onto it in the meantime for 'safe keeping'.

She felt the limo pull to a stop and looked out the window at the overly done up hotel and the flashing lights of the cameras with a groan of resignation. She could always hope one day Heero Yuy would finally give her a fucking reason... and when she held the damn gun to his forehead it sure as hell wouldn't be unloaded. She scowled. He was already ruining her evening and she hadn't even been forced to smile at him yet. Her shoulders were tense. Wufei put a hand on hers.

"I will be here Marie... if you think you still need me." She smiled at him, a genuine and somewhat shy upturn of her lips that the dignitaries this evening would never see.

"Always, my friend."


End file.
